Forced draft heater



Nov. .18, 1941. E. w. LOGUE 2,263,362

FORCED DRAFT HEATER Filed Nov. 16, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 1 F1 Z 6 1 4,2 41 2 E46 :44 3/128 16 47 i 25 INVENTOR. Eugene WLogue ATTORNEY.

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Nqv. 18, 1941. E. w. LOGUE 2,263,362

FORCED DRAFT HEATER Filed Nov. 16, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ENTOR.

Z? A E1716 WL09Z1 MgT ORNEY Patented Nov. 18, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- Application November 16, 1940, Serial No. 365,963

3 Claims. (Cl. 126-110) My invention relates to an improvement in forced draft heating devices, and has for its object to provide a heater that will efficiently heat air and then discharge the air therefrom in such a manner that the heated air will ride along the floor line of the space being heated, for great distances, and will gradually rise from the floor line into the space being heated. The-result of this action is such that the space being heated will have a substantially even temperature throughout and there will be little or no difference in the temperature at the floor and at the ceiling of the space being heated.

One of the principal objects is to discharge the heating draft of air from the heater directly on the floor line.

A still further object is to discharge a heating draft of air from the heater that is composed of two parts, one, the lower portion, being a cool draft of air on which the hot draft of air is discharged and the cool layer of air functions as a carrying agent that tends to flow along the floor line and carries the warm draft of air with it, thereby preventing the immediate rise of the'hot air in the space being heated, and thereforeresulting in the more uniform heating of the room or space being heated.

A further object is to provide a heating device of the kind mentioned in which the draft of heated air emitted therefrom is a forced draft.

Another object is to provide a heating device of the kind mentioned which, if necessary, will operate on the principle of a natural draft heater.

Still another object is to provide a heating device of the kind mentioned that is inexpensive to make so that the device can be sold at a moderate price. The device is simple and easy to make; it is durable and long lived; and the device may be heated with any suitable fuel, although as shown in the drawings the device is heated with a gas burner. It will be understood that any other heating element may be employed such as an oil burner, or the device may be built with a fire pot so that coal or wood can be used as a fuel. These and other objects will be more fully described as this description progresses.

Now referring to the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 represents a front view of the heating device.

Fig. 2 represents a side View of the heating device.

Fig. 3 represents a rear view of the heating device.

Fig. 4 represents a top plan view of the heating device.

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view through the heater, the view being taken along the line V--V in Fig. 4, and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional View through the heater, the view being taken along the line VI-VI in Fig. 4, and looking in the direction of the arrows.

' Fig. 7 is a top plan view of the heating device, the topcover element of the housing being removed for convenience of illustration.

Fig; 8 is a bottom plan view of the hinged lid of the housing.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged detail sectional view through the thermostat draft control device constructed in the lid of the housing of the heating device.

Fig. 10 is a vertical sectional view through a modified form of the heating device.

Fig. 11 is a horizontal sectional view through the heating device, the view being taken along the line XI--X[ in Fig. 10 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Similar numerals of reference designate the same parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

In the drawings is shown my improved heating device having a preferably rectangular shaped housing consisting of a front l8, sides II and I2 and a rear plate element l3. The side plates H and 12 are provided with inwardly turned flange like portions I l and 15 against which the rear plate 13 rests and is rigidly held thereto by means of screws or bolts [5 that pass through the plate l3 and the flanges l4 and I5.

The housing walls H], H and I2 and I3 are provided with a top closure element I! that is provided with a flange portion I 8 that fits over the upper edges of the housing walls l0, H, 12 and I3 and is rigidly held thereon by means of screws or bolts 19 that pass through the flange l8 and the upper edge of the walls H], ll, 12 and L3. The central portion of the closure element I1 is provided with an opening over which is positioned a closure lid 20 that is hingedly connected to the closure element l! as indicated at 2| and 22.

The housing H], II, l2 and I3 is provided with an inclined floor closure element 23, one end of which projects beyond the front plate NJ and rests on the floor 24 and supports the front side of the heating device. The rear end of the inclined floor is supported on leg elements 25 and 26 which support the rear side of the device so as to make it stand in a substantial and vertical position as shown. The rear portion of the inclined floor element 23 is turned upwardly between the'walls II and I2 as shown at 23a and then inwardly in a levelposition as at 23b to a point approximately midway between the front and rear walls I and I3 and then turned downwardly in substantially a vertical position 230 to a point adjacent the .inclined portion of the floor 2'3.

The lower portion Ill of the front wall and the inclined floor element 23 complementally constitute an air discharge nozzle I3 it being understood that the lower front portions of the side plates II and I2 also project outwardly to close the sides of this nozzle. By referring to Fig. '7, it will be seen that the nozzle I6 is substantially coextensive in width with the housing.

The element 28 is merely an ornamental moulding commonly employed in stoves and furnaces for ornamental purposes. The discharge from the nozzle is through the opening 21 and substantially at the floor line.

In the foregoing described housing is a hollow heat radiating drum 29 that is preferably tubular in shape and is provided with an integrally formed top closure portion 29a and a vent pipe element 30 that opens into the upper portions of the heat radiating drum 29 and extends rearwardly therefrom and through the rear wall I3 of the housing. To this vent 39 may be attached an ordinary stove pipe that may connect with a flue of the building in the usual well known manner. The vent pipe 30 is provided with vertically positioned fins 3I that are integrally formed thereon for heat radiating purposes as will later be described.

The heat radiating drum 29 is provided with a pair of vertically and diametrically positioned fin elements 32 and 33 that are integrally formed thereon and extend outwardly therefrom to a point where they contact the side walls I I and I2 of the housing as indicated at 32a and 33a. The upper ends of the fins 32 and 33 are positioned some distance below the top 29a of the heating drum 29 so that a draft of air can easily pass in vertical direction and fiow over the top edge of the fins 32 and 33 in a manner that will later be described.

The lower ends of the fins 32 and 33 lack a little of reaching the level portions 23b of the housing I0, II, I2 and I3 so as to leave a track or small opening 4I between the fins 32 and 33 and the floor portion 23b.

Other vertically positioned fins 34, 35 and 36 are integrally formed on and radiate from the curved side of the drum 29 and also pass in a direction from front to back of the housing Ill, II, 12 and I3 as shown in Fig. 7; and still other vertically positioned and outwardly and radially projecting fin elements 31, 38, 39 and 40 are integrally formed on the sides of the drum 29 and reach from a point well below the top 29a of the drum 29 to a point a little above the level portion 23b of the floor of the housing It), .I I, I2 and I3.

The lower end of the heat radiating drum 29 is provided with a rearwardly extending rectangular shaped duct 42 that is of considerable size and through which may be passed a burner, preferably a gas burner 43 that is supported by the bottom 42a of the heat radiating drum 29 and substantially concentric therewith. The. burner is provided with a tubular air and gas mixing and fuel delivery element 43a on which is an air and gas mixer 44 into which gas is fed through a jet 45 that is carried on and supplied with fuel through a gas valve 45. At 41 is a gas feed pipe that is connected to the valve 46 to supply fuel to the burner 43.

In the rear wall plate I3 is a circular hole 43 constituting an air inlet opening, that is positioned in the center of the plate I3 and a little above the duct 42. At 49 is an electric motor I: that is rigidly supported on a spider bracket 59 that is rigidlyattached to the rear plate I3 of the housing and is held in such a position that the center axis line of the revolvable motor drive shaft 5| passes through the center of the circular opening 49 and extends into the interior of the housing II), II, I2 and I3.

Rigidly mounted on the exposed end of the motor shaft 5I is a circular shaped plate 52 having fins 53 thereon to form a centrifugal blower.

In the lid 29 is a series of openings 54 that are of substantially the same size and shape and are equally spaced apart about a center point that is positioned at the center of the lid 20.

On the under side of the lid 20 is revolvably supported a circular plate 55 having holes 56 therein that are so spaced that they may register with the holes 54 in the lid 20. The plate 55 is provided with outwardly projecting stop elements 5:! and 58 which are spaced apart and between which is a stop pin 59 that is rigidly mounted on the under side of the lid elementlll and projects downwardly therefrom.

At 69 is a threaded stud that passes through the lid plate 20 and on which is threaded a lock nut 6|. Threaded on the upper end of the stud I3!) is an adjusting nut 62 which is permanently stationed thereon by means of a pin =63 which passes through the nut 6'21and the upper :end of the stud 69 positioned therein.

Integrally formed on the stud 169 is a shoulder 64 which is slightly thicker than the plate 55 and which is positioned in a hole at the center of the plate 55 so that the plate 55 is revolvably'mounted thereon.

Integrally formed on and at the lower side of the shoulder 64 is a second outwardly projecting shoulder element 65 on which revo'lvably rests the circular plate 55. Depending from the under side of the shoulder portion 65 is a pin portion that is in axial alignment with the stud 69.

To the pin portion 66 is rigidly attached one end of a helical pi-metallic thermal element Bl, the other end of which is wrapped around a downwardly projecting pin '68 that is rigidly mounted on the revolvable plate 55.

The operation of the device is as follows: The gas valve 45 is turned to admit gas fuel to the burner 43, whereupon the burner is lighted and heats the drum 29 and the fins 32, 33, 3'4, 35 and 36 thereon. This having been done, the electric motor 49 is started which in turn revolves the blower head 5253 which draws air in through theopening 48 and discharges the air within the housing IO, M, I2, I3, I'I-2-Il' and 23-23b and raises an air pressure therein which forces the incoming air to travel upwardly inthe rear portion of the housing and along the fins .32, 33, 35, 35, 3'! and 39, across the top 29a of the drum 29 and then downwardly along the front side of the drum 29 and fins, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38 and 40 to be discharged from the housing through the opening 21, and during this travel along the drum 29 and fins thereon the air becomes heated from heat being radiated from the drum 29 and the fins thereon.

Simultaneously withthe flow of air just described, another fiow of air is being forced from the rear portion of the housing through the openings 4| into the front portion of the housing and is also being discharged therefrom through the lower portion of the discharge opening 21 so as to form a discharging flow of air that is composed of two layers A and B. While there is some mixing of the two layers A and B, there is stratification of the cool and hot air, the lower layer A being cooler than the layer B and therefore has a tendency to flow along on the floor 24 and form a carrying agent for the layer B which is hot. According to tests that have been carried out, it is shown that the hot air can be carried for great distances in the manner above described without the hot air rising immediately; therefore the hot air can be uniformly circulated in a room and maintain substantially the same temperature at both the low and high places in the room. In view of this fact it becomes obvious that the device will adequately heat a room with much less fuel consumption than other heating devices, and a much smaller heating device than usual may be ample to satisfactorily heat a given space.

If for any reason the electric current fails, or the motor 49 fails to operate, there would be an excessive amount of heat accumulated in the heater housing and which cannot escape through the opening 21 because the opening 21 is at the bottom of the device and the natural draft produced by heat is in an upward direction. Therefore there will be no flow of air through the device. In view of this fact, the bi-metallic thermal element will become heated to the point where it will revolve the plate 55 to such a point that the stop element 58 will move to, and be stopped by, the stop pin 59 whereupon the holes 56 in the plate 55 will register with the holes 54 in the lid 20, whereupon a natural draft of air induced to flow by the heat being radiated thereinto from the heading drum 29 will flow through the openings 2'! and 48, thence upwardly along the heating drum 29 and fins thereon and then out through the holes 5654 to be discharged into the room or space to be heated.

When the running of the motor 49 and blower 52-53 is re-established, the thermal element 67 will be cooled and will therefore revolve the plate 55 to move the holes 56 out of registry with the holes 54, whereupon circulation of air through the opening 48, up, over and down the heating drum 29 and fins thereon and out through the opening 21, and also through the openings 4|, will be re-established to heat as previously described.

The degree of temperature at which the plate 55 will be revolved to open or close the holes 54 may be adjusted by loosening the lock nut BI and turning the adjusting nut 62 so as to turn the pin 66 which will tension or spring the thermal element 67 so as to increase or decrease the temperature required to cause the thermal ele- 'ment 6'! to move the pin 68 and plate 55 on the air discharge therefrom is precisely the same as that shown and described in and Figures 1 to 9 inclusive. In Figures 10 and 11 the device is shown as having a rectangular shaped housing 69, 10, I I and'a rear closure plate 12. The housing 6910'I l!2 is provided with a curved bottom closure element 13, and a top element 14.

In the closure 69'I0H-|2l3-l4 is a heat radiating drum 15 having fins I6 and TI integrally formed thereon and reaching substantially from top to bottom of the heating drum 15.

The top closure element 14 is sloping so as to form a long narrow discharge opening 21a for the discharge of the heated air. In the top closure element 14 is a baffle plate 18 that fits the top curve of the heating drum l5 and fits against the upper edges of the fins l6 and between the opposite walls of the closure element 14 so as to form two compartments C and D in the housing 69--10-|l--I2-l3-l4, and which compartments C and D open into each other below the fins 16 and TI and in the lower closure element 13.

The upper end of the baflle plate 18 extends well up into the throat of the opening 27a so as to have a small crack or opening from the compartment C into the opening 21a.

The lower end of the heating drum 15 is provided with a tubular portion 19 that depends therefrom and passes through the bottom of the closure element 13. At is a gas burner having a Venturi tube 8| into which gas fuel may be fed through a gas jet 82 that is supported on a gas control valve 83 which gas fuel is fed through a gas supply or feed pipe 84. At the top of the heating drum is a vent pipe indicated by the dotted circle 85 which connects from the heating drum 15 to the outside of the housing of the heating device. pipe may be connected to the outer end of the vent pipe 85, the other end of the stove pipe may be connected to a flue in the usual manner as will be readily understood.

In the rear closure plate is a circular hole 86, and at 81 is an electric motor carried on a spider bracket 88 that is rigidly attached to the rear closure plate 12 in such a position that the revolvable motor drive shaft 89 is centered in the hole 86.

In the compartment C and rigidly mounted on the motor shaft 89 is a blower element 90. Above the blower element 90 is a curved baffle plate 9|, one end of which joins the bafile plate 18 and the other end of which joins a vertically positioned plate 92 the upper end of which also joins the battle plate 18. The plate 92 is spaced a short distance away from the rear closure plate 12 so as to provide a small passage from the compartment C to the discharge opening 21a.

The operation of the device is as follows: The gas valve 83 is opened and the fuel therefor being emitted from the burner 80 is lighted, whereupon the heating drum 15 and fins thereon will be heated. Now the motor 81 and the blower 90 is started. The blower 90 will draw air in through the hole 86 and discharge the air into the compartment C from which air pressure is raised in the compartments C and D and the passage E.

The air circulating from the compartment C to and through the compartment D will be heated from the heating drum l5 and fins thereon, and be discharged through the upper portion of the opening 21a as the portion B of the air discharge, and, a small portion of cool air will pass up One end of an ordinary stove through the passage E and be discharged from the opening 21a as draft of air ,A at :the floor line 2-4 and intermediate the floor and the draft of .hot air B. The result of this is precisely the same as that 'of the device .shown in -Figures l to :9 inclusive.

Such modifications may be employed as lie within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit and intention of my invention.

:Now having fully shown and described my invention I claim:

1. A heating device :of the character described comprising an external casing having a radiator element disposed therein which lies in spaced relation to the walls of the casing at all points, means for heating the interior of the radiator element, fins extending between the radiator element and the side walls of the casing to divide the interior of said casing into a front compartment and a rear compartment, an air inlet opening for admitting outside air, located at the lower part of the rear compartment, a fan for causing air to flow into said compartment under pressure, said fins and radiator element being of such height and so disposed that air may flow upwardly in the rear compartment, over the top of the fins and radiator element and downwardly through the front compartment, a downwardly inclined air discharge outlet from the casing which extends substantially to the floor level and acts to discharge air obliquely downward toward the floor, a bottom for the rear compartment, said fins terminating enough short of said bottom to permit -a current of cold air to pass directly from the rear compartment into and through said downwardly inclined air discharge outlet at a point lower than the discharge of the hot air therefrom, said current of cold air being discharged substantially directly upon the floor.

2. A structure of the character described comprising an external casing, a radiator element therein spaced from the walls thereof, means for heating the interior of said radiator :element. bafile fins extending between the radiator element and the side walls of the casing to divide the casing into a front compartment and a rear compartment, and air forcing means in the rear compartment, means for discharging a current of cold air directly from the air forcing means and from the rear compartment to and upon the floor level, the baflie fins being .of such height that the front and rear compartments are in communication with each other at the upper portion of the casing, so that air may flow upwardly from the rear compartment and downwardly through the front compartment, being heated by the radiator element during such flow and the casing being provided with a downwardly and outwardly directed nozzle by which said heated air is discharged obliquely toward the floor level to ride outwardly over the floor upon the carrier current of denser and colder air constituted by the cold air discharge which passes directly from the rear compartment to the floor level.

3. A room heater of the character described, comprising in combination a casing, 'a heating chamber therein, means for guiding cool air over and around the heating chamber for heating said air, means for guiding cool air through the casing without heating it, fan means for causing both said bodies of air to flow-as aforesaid, and outlet means for simultaneously discharging both said bodies of air substantially at the .floor level, in two adjacent and contacting layers, with the heated air forming the upper layer, and the cool air forming the lower or carrying layer.

EUGENE W. 'LOGUE. 

